Improved washing-machine



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEc3 ROBERT M. YORKS, OF SGHOOLCRAFT, MICHIGAN.

IMPROVED WASHING-MACHINE.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 56,318, dated July 10, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT M. YoRKs, of Schoolcraft, Kalamazoo county, State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful 1mprovement in Washing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a longitudinal section, in the plane of the line x of Fig. 2, of a washing-machine made according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

The object of this improvement is to decrease the labor of washing clothes by enabling the operator to use a treadle for moving the board over the clothes, the board being brought back to its place by a spring.

The invention consists in several particulars hereinafter set forth.

The letter A designates the box or vessel which is to contain the clothes to be washed. It is supported upon legs, which bring it to a convenient height, and vin its bottom is ahole, C, through which water and suds can be drawn off. The hole is closed by a plug.

B is a frame placed in the box in an inclined position, the lower end thereof being at the rear ofthe box, while the higher end is at the front. This frame consists of side pieces secured to the inner sides of the box, and connected by the rollers D D at their ends, over which rollers the ropes I I pass, and by the rubbing-rollers H, that are placed about midway of the length of the frame.

The rollers D and H are free to turn in their bearings in the frame. The side pieces also support the bar O, to which are fastened the ends of the rubber springs K.

G is a movable wash-board with a corru.

gated rubbing-surface. It has a handle, F, that can be seized by the hand and operated alone to drive the wash-board, or in conjunction with the treadle hereinafter mentioned.

To the lower end of the board G is connected a bar, M, whose ends run in a groove formed between the upper edges of the side pieces of the frame B and the yielding bars L,

4which are held above the side pieces on vertical pins E E, that project upward from the side pieces through the bars L, and have spiral springs around them above the bars, which springs exert a constant force to hold the bars down on the ends of the cross-bar M of the wash-board. This arrangementallows the wash-board to receive between it and the stationary rollers H a mass of clothes, and to rise to a higher position in the box A, forcing the bars L L upward against the springs on the pins E.

The upper end of the wash-board G has a cross-bar, N, whose ends do not reach to the side pieces of frame B, both vit and the washboard G being free to pass between the sides of the frame without touching them.

The front legs of the machine are slotted to receive the ends of a treadle board, J, to which, near its ends, are fastened the ends 4of a rope, I, which is extended thence over the front roller, D, to the upper bar, N, of the wash-board.

To the lower bar, M, ofthe board is fastened a rope, l', which is extended thence over the lower roller, D, thende beneath the rollers H to the front of the machine, where its ends are secured to a cross-bar, P, that is connected to an evener-bar, around which the rubber bands that form the spring of the treadle apparatus are passed.

When the operator treads on the treadle and forces it down the wash-board is drawn upward toward the front of the machine, causing a great strain to be made on the springs K. When the treadle is released the springs will draw the board down to its former position in the box.

The operator can assist and guide the movements of the board by taking hold of the handle, or, by removing the ropes I I', can operate the wash-boardindependently of the treadle and springs.

The action of the board on the clothes is more rapid under the tension of the springs than it would be under the action of gravity, or under the action of the hand alone, and therefore the clothes will be the sooner brought to a, clean state.

The springs may be made of any suitable material that will not 'become rusty and stain 2. The crossdmr M, working in grooves the clothes. formed by the yielding bars L L and the up- 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letper edges of the frame B, substantially as deters Patentscribed.

l.l The combination of the Wash-board G, the treadie J', and the springs K, connected t0 Witnesses: each other by ropes l substantially as de.- AMBROSE MARKS,

ROBERT MQYORKS..

scribed. t GEQRGE R. JAMES. 

